Yea, i think "solid" fits him perfectly. Safe pair of hands for HRT. Wonder who'll get the second seat now. Clos?

Personally, I view the second seat as a fight between Clos, Karthikeyan (because sponsors), Ricciardo/Vergne (if Red Bull want a 5th car) and Bottas (if Williams falls through, see Karthikeyan). If STR retain their lineup, expect one of the RB Young Drivers. If one goes, expect one of the two to be at STR and one at Caterham, with Clos likely for the HRT, and Karthikeyan and Bottas as outsiders. If Williams falls through for Bottas, he becomes about as likely as Clos.

I said *full* season. He didn't exactly embarass himself like Badoer either, even if he didn't match up to Kimi or Kamui.

I still feel bad for Badoer, particularly as Fisichella showed how much of a dog that Ferrari was if you hadn't driven it all season like Kimi/Felipe (considering Fisi went from 2nd in Spa with FI to 9th (quali 14th) at Monza, while Raikkonen was 3rd in quali and race in Italy)... Still, things could be looking up for that Spanish money at HRT!

I still feel bad for Badoer, particularly as Fisichella showed how much of a dog that Ferrari was if you hadn't driven it all season like Kimi/Felipe (considering Fisi went from 2nd in Spa with FI to 9th (quali 14th) at Monza, while Raikkonen was 3rd in quali and race in Italy)... Still, things could be looking up for that Spanish money at HRT!

Sure, but Ferrari dropped both Fisi and Badoer after that season...and yes, you make a good point, sponsors will appreciate a Spanish driver at a Spanish team.

Not a great call for the team imo. I am still very happy for Pedro however as he is a nice guy and lets face it he might as well jump at any drive he can get as he certainly isnt getting any younger.

Hope this isnt the end for liuzzi but i cant see it not being, lets face it he isnt A class material but he is a better driver than any rookie hrt would attract. It would be great if he stayed though, a team with no pay driving rookies would gain them some more respect from me over the modern team mentality of one good driver and some useless gp2 guy with some majorly dodgy oil company backing.

Not a great call for the team imo. I am still very happy for Pedro however as he is a nice guy and lets face it he might as well jump at any drive he can get as he certainly isnt getting any younger.

Hope this isnt the end for liuzzi but i cant see it not being, lets face it he isnt A class material but he is a better driver than any rookie hrt would attract. It would be great if he stayed though, a team with no pay driving rookies would gain them some more respect from me over the modern team mentality of one good driver and some useless gp2 guy with some majorly dodgy oil company backing.

I think that whether or not Liuzzi is retained relies on a few things.

1. How much sponsorship from Spain will de la Rosa attract? By this, I don't mean how much is he bringing in his portfolio (ala Maldonado) but rather how much will he attract with his name (ala Sauber getting some sponsors for Japanese GP because of Kobayashi being Japanese). The higher the amount, the higher chance Liuzzi stays.

2. Is Liuzzi helping attract the Italian market? Not only for sponsorship, but for technical partnership. A tie in with an Italian parts company, or Italian companies like in (1.) could help his chances.

3. How solid is the backing within the team? Guess we can only wonder for this.

4. Are there any solid rookies bringing money? By this, I mean would Red Bull give fair money (in the region of cheaper pay driver) to field Ricciardo or Vergne? Obviously, the less skilled the rookie, the more money will matter.

As far as I can see, these are the main factors concerning Liuzzi remaining in the team as a full time driver.

Sadly — lacking a better word — De la Rosa also raced in 2006, 2010 and 2011, otherwise the race for Jan Lammers' record of 3,745 days between Grand Prix starts would've been interesting.

(Lammers last competed in the 1982 Dutch Grand Prix on July 3, 1982 and subsequently in the 1992 Japanese Grand Prix on 25 October 1992.)

You talked about Lammers record. Something far away from Pedro's performances as he raced, also, in Bahrein 2005, where he got the fastest lap after beating Kimi on qualy. In addition, during the first six races alongside to Kimi in 2006 Pedro got same points that Kimi. Then, the engine freeze issue crapped his stats.

You talked about Lammers record. Something far away from Pedro's performances as he raced, also, in Bahrein 2005, where he got the fastest lap after beating Kimi on qualy. In addition, during the first six races alongside to Kimi in 2006 Pedro got same points that Kimi. Then, the engine freeze issue crapped his stats.

Have I been dreaming and just woken up in an alternative reality. FFS De La Rosa got the sack from Sauber for not being quick enough and brought no money. I don't know what feedback he's going to bring thats different to what the telemetry says.

De La Rosa is a great signing for them. There's no point in signing up loads of young talent. They're not going to be able to catch anyone's eye in that car. At least with PDLR he is experienced and will be able to develop the car. Good signing

De La Rosa is a great signing for them. There's no point in signing up loads of young talent. They're not going to be able to catch anyone's eye in that car. At least with PDLR he is experienced and will be able to develop the car. Good signing

When have you ever seen a driver develop a car? They can test components but development is done the design team.

When have you ever seen a driver develop a car? They can test components but development is done the design team.

I am normally one that believes driver input is vastly overrated, but I think de la Rosa could be valuable for the team. He has driven enough really good F1 cars that he knows better than most exactly how a good car should feel. He must have picked up a few things in the McLaren garage over the years!

If they are thinking of putting a rookie like Clos in the second seat they really need someone like him to validate the feedback and I don't think he will make a fool of himself. "Solid" as someone said earlier.

Over all I think its a positive move for HRT even if PDLR is not seen to anything special, its good publicity and a chance to attract sponsors. This year HRT haven't featured much on the BBC, most races you would not even have known there were there apart from seeing HRT being lapped by Vettel. Maybe having a stable drive and a long term contract with a Spanish team is what PDLR needed all along. Why would a top team like Mclaren have him as a reserve for such a long time if he was really that bad as people make him out to be ?
As for Luigi HRT could still retain him as a reserve driver.